


Sweaters in the Desert Sun

by TheLanceShow



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Anger, Awkward Crush, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Boys Kissing, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt Lance (Voltron), IN SPACE!, Lance: Captain Shirogane~, M/M, Maybe i’ll Make a sequel who knows, O captain my captain, Oh My God, Pining Lance (Voltron), Pining Shiro (Voltron), Post-Canon, Shiro (Voltron) is a Mess, Shiro has a kink for Lance calling him Captain Shirogane shhhhh, Shiro: fuck my tight gay ass, Weird Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 03:35:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15654945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLanceShow/pseuds/TheLanceShow
Summary: After the end of season 7, Lance has a bone to pick with some of his teammates.In the aftermath, Shiro goes to comfort him in more way than one.To listen, and a little something else.





	Sweaters in the Desert Sun

**Author's Note:**

> As soon as I watched it... I was anger for my child

“It’s not Romelle’s brother,” is the first thing Lance says when he enters the lounge room. He had been the one to stay with her when she began to cry. Now here he is an hour later, somber written across his features and shoulders drooped more than usual. The wrapping around his torso makes Shiro want to fret. “That being said, I’m sorry he died, though I’m glad it wasn’t him. Romelle has stopped crying.”

Shiro barely manages to keep his worry levels on everyone in check. He doesn’t want to seem like he favors Lance.

Whiiiich is why he diverts it to Keith.

Whiiiich is also why Lance thinks they’re in a relationship.

Life sucks like that.

”Take into consideration that he tried to kill us, Lance,” Shiro says. He misses the days where he could speak softly to all of them. But they can’t be babied, not right now. “It was his choice to do that.”

”He was just a kid.” Lance scratches his chest. “But you’re right, he... had it coming, I guess.”

”Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?” Keith asks, face propped up by his fist. The couches on the Atlas, due to Shiro’s rememberance of the Castle’s couches, are a lot softer. Lance was the only one standing, as of now. “You’re not cold?”

”No, and the clothes grates and pulls on the bandages,” Lance says. He hesitates before opening his mouth again. “I have a bone to pick with — a good portion of you. If Krolia was here, I would have addressed her as well.”

This causes for all of his teammates to straighten significantly. Shiro looks at them all quizzically and sits up as well. What did they do when he wasn’t there?

”First is, uh,” Lance starts. He stands in the center of the room. Matt raises his eyebrows along with Sam when Lance says, “Pidge.”

Pidge searches Lance’s face to find barely hidden irritation thinly veiled.

”What did I do to you?” she asks, squinting. Lance grinds his teeth together before clearing his throat. Shiro leans forward a bit. “Lance.”

Lance’s entire demeanor seems to freeze over and his lips thin. His voice is flat when he begins.

“It was when Shiro was still passed out from, you know, coming back to life.” Lance’s eyes flicker to Shiro. “By the way, I didn’t mean to pressure you when you couldn’t explain the plan. I also, however, didn’t appreciate the tone you used when you explained. The sarcasm wasn’t needed, considering we are all under even more stress than you were at the time.” Lance sighs. “Anyway, we were looking for that creature — don’t remember the name, if I’m being honest. And you said something after I said it was ugly.”

Lance chuckles a bit, though bitter.

”And Pidge, you’re a — person. You have inhibitions. You have a very active consciousness. So why, prey tell, did you think it was okay to declare that you thought it was cute in a disgusting way, like _me?_ ”

Pidge takes in a sharp inhalation of air. Matt and Sam’s heads whip to face her; like father like son. “It was a _joke_ , Lance.”

”Is it a joke if it isn’t _funny?”_ Lance snaps. He crosses his arms and aims a surprisingly sharp glare at her. “What is wrong with you, actually? You called me _ugly_ , Pidge.”

”I called you cute!” She defends. Shiro has a feeling she knows it will fall flat.

”Don’t pull that with me, I’m done with this.” Lance rolls his eyes. “Krolia told me to _shut up_ when I was in _pain_. Did any of you say anything to that? _No_. If I’m being honest, I’m very tired of being brushed off.”

”When?” Hunk asks, confused. “We don’t — “

”I almost never get at least a fucking _good job, Lance_.” Lance clenches his fists, eyes glossing over. “God, I haven’t missed a target in so long — _so long!_ And no-one has seemed to acknowledge what I do. Pidge is always awesome with hacking, I tell her. Keith with his fighting, I cheer him on. Hunk taking down enemies, I am so proud. You all get constant support from me and, I swear, I remember a total of three compliments I’ve gotten in space. 

“Allura said I have greatness within, Shiro called me a _Sharpshooter_ , and Nyma simply called me _cute_ — even that was condescending.” Lance throws his arms out to the side with a sardonic smile. “Excuses, excuses, give me them.”

”We all thought you would let it get to your head,” Allura says quietly. Lance scoffs.

”Really now? Question — did my head get big when you said what you said? How about you, Shiro?” Lance looks him in the eye as he says, “You know what I said?”

”You said _yup_ really quietly,” Shiro near whispers. Lance nods once and he searches the rest of the team’s faces.

”Shit, Allura and I were joking around!” Lance runs a hand down his face, exasperated. “Keith, I know you don’t communicate well. it you need to mature a little, man. I can’t tell when you’re joking sometimes, if I’m being honest. When you told me not to miss, that kind of — hurt. Because I don’t anymore, and considering nobody really had that much fate in me, I can’t tell. As an aside, I was _never_ a bad pilot. 

“And that whole _friendship is magic_ bullshit that you said after you decided to try to leave once again. What was that?!”

”You told me to leave!” Keith shouts, standing. Lance’s lips part into an incredulous smile.

”Since when do you take orders from me?” Lance hisses, and his voice is so harsh that Keith attempts to take a step back. “We, eventually, need to talk about what happened that made you change your mind so quickly. You insulted Allura because you were tired but why her? Her retort about your leadership was valid, you know. Plus, you did run away, and I know because it _hurt_ me.”

Keith’s eyes widen at that, as if he was shocked that Lance cares about all of them. Maybe they don’t know each other as much as they think. Shiro swallows thickly, brain sluggish on how to solve the tension in the room.

”This is the last thing I’m addressing because I’m tired, so get ready for this super shocking reveal — the game show! Remember, with that guy Bob and we had no idea what the fuck was going on? Multiple problems with _that_ shit show. One, Allura was also one that told me to shut up when I was guessing things that Keith could have been drawing. Excuse me for not staying silent, all right? I’m sorry I was panicking because we were somewhere in the middle of buttfuck nowhere.

”Then, the _dumb one_. Remembered when Zarkon’s team — “ Shiro makes a confused noise but gets no recognition, “ — referred to me as the dumb one? _We choose the dumb one_ , and — _none_ of you said anything! You weren’t like _who are they talking about?_ No, you disrespectful assholes said _nothing_ the entire time. They referred to me the entire time as the dumb on, or dumb-dumb. And you did absolutely nothing about it.” Lance takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “Once again, names eluded me because, I admit, I was fucking scared.

”And no-one called out Pidge on assaulting the fucking host! So _fuck_ you guys.” Lance calmly smiles. “I’m gonna go train my frustrations out. Buh-bye.”

Shiro along with everyone else watch as Lance stalks out of the room. His usual rolling, lazy strides have been downgraded to irritated yet confident steps. Is what he said true?

Shiro looks at his Paladins with accusing eyes and they all flinch back. He will admit that the comment towards Lance and praising him was something he needed to work on. But none of them stood up to their friend? And what does he mean by the friendship is magic business?

”Who wants to come forth and enlighten,” Shiro says, looking directly at Pidge. She frowns, staring at the gray flooring of the Atlas. “Pidge.”

”I was joking,” she says softly. “I didn’t — know it hurt his feelings.”

”Why would you ever call a friend ugly?” Shiro asks. His voice comes out harder than he meant but he doesn’t take it back. “What would make you think it’s okay to call someone you care about ugly?”

”I was kidding!” Pidge shouts, putting her head in her hands. “How was I supposed to know he didn’t know?”

”I saw his expression.”

They all look to where Romelle enters the room. Her blonde hair is loose for once, pinkish-purple eyes sharp in the cabin.

”I saw how much he didn’t like that comment. I haven’t been here for your character development towards each other, which is why I didn’t say anything.” Romelle wraps her arms around herself and steels her gaze at all of them. “I have to agree with Lance in this situation. Though I did bond more with Hunk in the beginning, I can very well see why Lance and I get along when you’re alone. For the most part, at least.”

”Alone?” Shiro and Allura say at the same time. Their tones match and he looks at her suspiciously.

”I wasn’t there for the other instances, which is unfortunate. But I heard everything — it’s not like you guys were whispering.” Romelle looks to Shiro. “I think you should go comfort him. You seem like the strongest and he still sees you as a leader.”

“I will,” Shiro confirms, heart clenching in his chest. Lance didn’t deserve what ever happened. “After I get everyone’s reasons.”

“We all know how awkward I am,” Keith starts. He fidgets, an odd thing for him to do — he must have picked it up from Lance. “I guess I need to learn how to joke better.”

”Keith, if you don’t know how to joke around, don’t bother,” Hunk murmurs. He looks down at his lap.

”I was trying to find a solution to stitch all of us back together,” Keith says. “I didn’t really think about it. I guess he did.”

”He’s right with how we recognize him,” Hunk says. “We don’t do it enough, and not nearly as much as we could.”

”He doesn’t want to be showered in attention,” Romelle pipes in. “It’s just, well, he would appreciate the occasional _you did well.”_

Something in Shiro cracks — maybe because Romelle had managed to get closer to Lance than Shiro could in years. He does, however, appreciate the insight.

”I understand, I think,” Allura says.

”And what is this about you not scolding Pidge after she pulled a stunt like that?” Shiro asks, staring at Keith. The boy looks away, towards the doorway Lance fled. 

“I just hadn’t thought of it.”

Shiro stands and looks around the room. “I bet you would not have if Lance was the one who did it — I’m disappointed in all of us. Especially Keith and Pidge. You didn’t defend your teammate when he needed you to.”

Shiro strides out of the room, after Lance. He heads to his room first, which is still empty. He goes to check the instrument room before he realizes there’s nothing there. When he remembers where Lance said he would be, he sprints to the training room. It’s not as advanced as the old one, but it still gets the job done. There, Lance is in just his undersuit, stretching.

”Hey, big guy,” Shiro starts off, wary. Lance slowly straightens and turns to him, expression blank.

”Hi.”

”I came to apologize,” Shiro says. Lance looks at the floor, hand on the back of his neck.

”I’m sorry about — um — the outburst. It wasn’t warranted.” He gives a sheepish grin. “To be fair, Romelle got the same amount of yelling.”

”She told us some stuff, too,” Shiro says, walking further into the room. Lance’s eyes flicker to his new arm before connecting eyes. “About how you’d like to be recognized.”

”Oh,” Lance mutters. After a beat, “What are you here for?”

”I told you, to apologize. For how we’ve been treating you.”

”Shiro, you were barely here,” Lance sighs out. “Honestly, dude. You’re not really to blame, here. I — none of it was really directed at you.” Lance continues to stretch. “Kuron — he said he was sorry. And the two of us would talk after hours all the time.”

”Hey, will you tell me what happened?” Shiro says. “Over the past few days.”

”Only if you let me beat you in a sparring match,” Lance says with a timid shrug of his shoulders. He stands to his full height once again. He grins, eyebrows furrowed and up. “I need the satisfaction, you know?”

”Of course,” Shiro says breezily. “Do I have to change?”

”’Course not. But I’ve changed my mind. Give me full force spar action,” Lance cracks his knuckles and smirks. Shiro swallows around the invasive, man, that’s hot, because this is about comforting Lance.

”You did this to yourself,” Shiro says playfully, going on the other side of the mat. The room is a little smaller so Lance is only about three yards away. 

“I, ah, ask you to not shoot your arm at me.”

”No problem,” Shiro whispers with a grin before extending his arm to a normal length and attaching it to his shoulder. Lance brightens significantly. “Ta-da!”

”Amazing,” Lance says. He widens his stance after sizing Shiro. “Ready?”

”Let’s count together.”

”3, 2, 1!”

Lance initially goes for his left arm, but Shiro easily blocks him. It’s only five minutes of blocked lunges and hits on both sides before Lance wraps his arms around Shiro’s neck as if in a loving embrace before he hooks his left leg under Shiro’s legs. He falls onto his back as Lance jumps away, then falls so either knee is next to each of his hips. Lance easily pins his hands above his head, the other next to Shiro’s right ear to support him.

”Did you go easy on me?” Lance asks, an eyebrow cocked. “I swear — “

”I’m still getting used to the arm,” Shiro protests. His breathing speeds up as Lance lowers his face. “W-What?”

”Just checkin’,” Lance says before rolling off of him. Lance stands, pulls Shiro to his feet, and sits at the wall. He crosses his legs, leaning his head against the padded wall. “Come let me tell ya, Shiro.”

Amused, Shiro walks over and sits next to Lance. Lance’s head lolls to the side to look Shiro in the eyes.

”I’m not ugly,” is what Lance starts with.

”I know you’re not,” is what Shiro means to say. Instead, “I am _very_ well aware.”

A flush builds on Lance’s cheekbones, making his freckles appear.

“Thanks,” Lance whispers. He clears his throat, then speaks at full volume. “It’s just — I don’t know why she would say that. It’s not to me in particularly — “

”Particular,” Shiro corrects, because he knows English isn’t Lance’s first language. Lance smiles gratefully.

” — in particular but I just don’t understand who would say that to a friend. I was irritated, not hurt. It just immensely bothered me. That comment had me thinking if she really thought of me as a friend. It didn’t stick right with me and it still doesn’t.” Lance runs a hand through his hair, breaking eye contact with Shiro. “What I said to Keith wasn’t very nice either. But he — he was on the same level as me.”

”I agree with you about Pidge, but what happened with Keith?”

”Well, I’ll start with when we were out in space.” Lance turns his head towards Shiro again and they lock eyes. “We were under stress because we hadn’t sleeped — “

”Slept.”

”Slept in a while. We were all tired — wait, side note! Hunk said that’d I’d go crazy first but little does he know, I can talk to myself for _days_.”

Shiro laughs, accidentally snorting, and the sound made it look like Shiro made his life.

”Anyways, we were under stress. I can’t remember what he said to Allura, nor what Allura said to Keith, but he started it.” Lance looks away for a second. “I’ll admit that what I said wasn’t nice. I interfered because Keith started it in the first place. Pointed out that he ran away — which he did — then he said something back, and I told him that he should’ve stayed away. Then he was all like, _fine_. 

”Like, he actually left us, or tried to leave. Then Hunk or Pidge said something, and Keith was like, why? Are we even friends and something about coincidence. Once again, that’s fucked up.”

Shiro is speechless for a moment before, “Oh. I didn’t know he said that.”

”Yeah, I didn’t know what to say either,” Lance murmurs. “And like, there’s nothing really to the whole _don’t miss_ thing. But I don’t...” Lance looks away once again. “I don’t have a lot going for me, you know? But I got better and Keith just — “ Lance spits something out in Spanish, a nice, long paragraph before he goes back to English. “Anyways, yeah.”

”You both messed up with that, but Keith was worse.”

”Yeah, I know.”

”And the game show?”

Lance scowls but it transforms into a pout. “I just wanted them to say I’m not stupid. And they shouted about that, but not when Pidge actually fought the host.”

”I’m surprised they didn’t say anything.”

”They asked who the smartest one, they all pointed at Pidge, including me. When they said the dumbest one — not a word. I don’t appreciate my intelligence being compromised. I pointed at her even after they did that to me.”

”I’m — I’m really sorry, Lance. You know I would never do something like that, right? I’d never, you know, let that happen.” Shiro smiles gently and awkwardly pats Lance’s head. 

He pumps his head into Shiro’s palm almost subconsciously and God, does Shiro’s heart melt.

”So what’s up with you?” Lance asks once Shiro takes his hand away. He grins mischievously. “I heard you’re _Captain_ Shirogane now.” 

But the way Lance says it is purred and sexy and everything enough for Shiro to do inappropriate things later tonight. The younger man slaps a hand to his mouth with wide, shining eyes.

”That sounded weird!” he nearly shrieks behind his hand. His voice is amazing like that, able to go from medium pitched and gravelly to scratching, rapid bell jingling. “I didn’t mean for it to come out like that.”

”I — like it?” Shiro says with a timid grin. “It’s okay, Lance. Captain Shirogane present.”

”That means you can order us around,” Lance says almost wistfully. He blinks and a full blush hits him like a truck. “That didn’t — regarding Voltron!”

”Mm-hm,” SHiro says, grin stretching wider. “I’m sure it is.”

”You know,” Lance says, voice and demeanor soft, incredibly so. “I really appreciate that you came to talk to me.” Lance’s eyelids lower as he smiles lazily. He shifts, soft hair causing him to slip his head onto Shiro’s shoulder, forehead first. “I needed this, even though it was short. Makes me feel better, you know?”

”Yeah,” Shiro says — he means it, really. Time with Lance is usually relaxing, no matter how hyper he can be sometimes.

He nearly jumps out of his skin when he feels nimble fingers crawl against his wrist, then his fingers. He looks down at Lance but only sees a head of soft curls. Shiro lets his hand go palm-up and he watches as Lance crawls his fingers into his hand. Shiro closes it and Lance curls his fingers around his.

”O captain, my captain,” Lance murmurs, tone flustered. Shiro smiles, hiding it in Lance’s hair. “Not a very happy poem, is it?”

A minute passes before, “Hey, Lance?”

”Hmm?”

”I’m a captain — Captain Shirogane. As your commanding officer...”

”Yeah?”

”I command you to kiss me.”

Lance slowly removes his head from Shiro’s shoulder. Shiro meets his gaze head-on, steady versus Lance’s wavering, insecure one. His eyes flicker down to Shiro’s lips then back up to his eyes.

”What about Keith?”

”We’re not dating — he’s almost brother, maybe even my son.”

Slowly, Lance leans forward, and Shiro’s breath hitches. His eyes flutter closed and he shivers when Lance’s lips brush his.

”Are you sure?” Lance whispers, their lips still brushing against each other, and Shiro opens his eyes. Lance’s face is startlingly close and Shiro can make out flecks of green and gray-blue in his eyes.

”Absolutely, cadet,” Shiro whispers back. He sees and feels Lance smile.

”10-4,” Lance replies before tilting his head and pushing into Shiro.

Lance and Shiro close their eyes at the same time and his heart swells as Lance grabs the back of his neck. Lance — he’s experienced versus Shiro’s few kisses with Adam. His lips are soft and demanding, easily leading the kiss where he wants it to go. He pulls away with a comical but oddly alluring sound.

“Being here reminds me of sweaters in the desert,” Lance says, closing his eyes and tilting his head up, propping his forehead against Shiro’s.

”How come?” He asks, dazed and drunk off of Lance.

“I like everyone here — they’re like comfy sweaters but. Here, in space, stress — is the desert. And everything is good paired with the right things. And in the day, the sweaters are too much — my friends are too much — it’s too hot outside — the pressure is too much. But when it’s night, and we’re all calm, and when I’m sad, sweaters are perfect for the desert.”

Shiro isn’t contemplative like Lance is. But he nods anyway because it makes sense.

They’re two guys wearing sweaters in the desert.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi i mildly disliked season 7


End file.
